Shared Power
by Volans
Summary: Unjustly accused, locked away, at least one person still believes in him. An accident during training has unexpected results. And what's Voldemort up to? HPNT
1. Missing You

**Disclaimer: Nothings mine, its all Rowling's. **

**Chapter 1 – Missing You**

At a small table in a dark corner of a muggle pub a young woman sat alone. A single tear ran down her cheek as she stared at a picture of her one true love. The only man she had ever known who truly understood her and accepted her for who she was not who she could be. They had been together in secret for two wonderful years until one week ago when he had been taken from her. The young auror had returned from a two week assignment to find him gone. Sure there had been explanations but she did not believe them and he had never been given a chance.

Looking at her watch she realized it was time to go. She tipped her glass of whiskey back swallowing the last sip of the amber liquid, letting the numbing feeling wash over her before leaning in to place a light kiss on the photograph of her lover.

"I'll see you soon. I love you."

Placing the picture safely in a pocket she tossed a few coins on the table as she stood and made her way to the door. The woman raised a hand over her eyes as the early afternoon sun shined down. She stumbled unsteadily around the corner of the bar and down a side alley. Hiding behind a large trash bin she removed a short stick from within her sleeve and pointing it at herself muttered a word, "Sobrius."

Free from the effects of the alcohol she took several deep breaths preparing herself for what she was about to do. After casting several more spells she waved her wand a final time and with a soft popping sound disappeared.

* * *

The imposing visage of Albus Dumbledore the most powerful wizard alive strode across a desolate piece of rock. This was a cold lonely place devoid of all plant life and completely lacking in happiness and hope. He paused briefly looking up at the castle situated high above the sea. A shiver ran down his spine as the dreaded guardians of the weather beaten keep could be seen gliding soundlessly about on their rounds removing everything that made life worth living from the air with their very breath. 

Shaking his head to remove the images the creatures conjured he continued on to the large wooden doors that protected the interior of castle Azkaban. Approaching a pair of aurors he presented them with several official looking documents.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, please take these to the duty officer inside and he'll take care of this for you."

He said nothing but made a short bow that was closer to a nod and passed through the large wooden doors into the fortress.

He moved through the entrance hall ignoring the looks of awe he was receiving from various aurors as he passed, his every thought and motion set on a single purpose. Entering a large and simply decorated office at the rear of the hall he presented the officer on duty with his documents.

"I am here to obtain temporary custody of this prisoner. He is to accompany me to Hogwarts where he will be detained in a cell we have prepared for him. He will be returned to you in one week's time."

The guard was shocked at the name on the papers but what auror would deny the head of the Wizengamot anything? Certainly not him.

"Of course Sir. Right this way."

A pair of dementors joined them as they made their way through the prisons many stairways and passages finally arriving at a nondescript cell door. Entering the cell Dumbledore approached a shivering pile of rags in the back corner. Turning to the auror he spoke loudly the authority in his voice making it clear that his commands would be fulfilled immediately and without question.

"Send the dementors away. I need to speak with the prisoner."

Nodding the auror waved the pair of dementors away and turned back towards the cell.

As the dementors left the filthy figure in the corner stopped shivering and slowly looked up. Albus Dumbledore's breath hitched as he found himself staring into the now dull and lifeless emerald green eyes of Harry Potter. It took everything he had to not break down at the sight but he could not afford to indulge in the luxury of grief, not now.

"Harry James Potter by order of the Wizengamot you are to be given into my charge for a period of one week after which you will be returned to your cell at Azkaban Prison to fulfill the remainder of your sentence. Any attempt at subterfuge or escape will be met with extreme and deliberate force. You will now be placed in shackles and moved to a secure location at Hogwarts."

With a wave of his wand steel bands appeared around Harrys wrists and ankles. The bands were connected with magical chains which would expand and contract allowing just enough movement for him to be able to fulfill any requests Dumbledore made of him but no more. Turning to the door he faced the auror guarding them.

"Please retrieve our escort."

"Yes sir." Turning away the auror headed down the hall to fetch the dementors.

"Let me give you a hand up Harry." said Dumbledore. As he grasped Harry's arm he leaned in close to his ear and quietly whispered, "Wotcher Harry."

His green eyes widened filling with surprise and hope as he received a wink from the now violet eyes of the old man standing before him. 'Tonks! Is it really her? She wasn't at the trial. I thought she hated me now. Please god let this be real.' He thought.

A mask of indifference returned to the mans face his eyes changing from violet back to Dumbledore's normal twinkling blue as he heard the auror returning now accompanied by a pair of dementors. The elation and hope fled from Harry's face at the first signs of his worst memories bubbling to the surface of his mind as the returning dementors began to affect him again.

"This way Potter."

The auror led the way back through the maze of passages followed by Harry and Tonks disguised as Albus Dumbledore the two dementors trailing behind. They passed through the large entrance hall towards a set of stairs on the far side leading down through the cold grey stone of the island. The stairs wound their way down finally leading them into a large grotto with a stone pier along one side. As they walked along the pier several aurors could be seen standing on balconies high above them all with their wands pointing at Harry.

'Just hang on Harry it'll all be over soon… soon.' Tonks thought to herself as she helped Harry into a small but very ornately carved wooden boat.

The boat began to move of its own volition as the pair sat down. The two dementors joined them continuing their guard from positions at the rear of the craft. Passing through a short tunnel they entered the open sea. As the boat clipped along at an unnaturally quick pace with a ride that was far smoother than it should have been, one could only speculate there was magic at work.

After skimming across the top of the water for almost an hour a land mass could be seen in the distance. A few minutes later as they began to slow and approach the dock they were able to make out several figures standing at the landing point.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." Tonks began to mumble. She looked at Harry and knew he was suffering from the effects of the dementors and would be unable to help. Turning her gaze back to the dock she found herself looking directly at three members of the Order of the Phoenix. Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, Head of Magical Law Enforcement Amelia Bones and the one person she hoped most not to see Albus Dumbledore.

"Bloody hell."

Acting quickly and stealthily she began to cast the strongest wards and shields she knew extending them up from the front of the boat. The instant they were in place she acted. Springing up from the bench she turned with her wand drawn facing the dementors and concentrating on her favorite memories of Harry shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"

A large silver mare erupted from the end of her wand and charged the dementors forcing them to flee from the boat. Before she could move she heard the sound of spells impacting her shields. Quickly spinning around, she found three Order members hurling curses towards her. The shields were holding but it was only a matter of time. After banishing the chains from Harry she quickly stashed her wand in her holster and changed into her animagus form, a large brown and white eagle. Grabbing Harry by his robes she launched herself into the air flying with everything she had away from the wizards while staying low to keep the boat and shield between her and them.

Several seconds later she swerved to avoid a curse and looked back to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the boat they had vacated. She changed direction and began to gain altitude as she continued to dodge incoming curses. Hearing a groan she felt Harry go limp in her grasp and knew he'd been hit with a stunner. Crossing the boundary of the wards surrounding the prison she immediately changed back into her normal form pulling Harry tightly to her and wrapping her legs around him as they began to fall. She reached in her shirt pulling out a long thin necklace and placed it around Harry's neck. Removing her wand she tapped the necklace and with a familiar tug behind the naval they disappeared.

Albus Dumbledore stood in the back of the boat as the pair vanished. Lowering his wand a grin appeared on his face and a twinkle in his eye as he spoke softly to the now empty sky. "Good luck Harry and Nymphadora."

* * *

Tonks reappeared behind the dumpster in the alley she had apperated away from earlier but this time she was not alone. 

"Enervate. Harry! Harry! Oh Merlin Harry please wake. Please don't leave me again"

Tears slid down her cheeks and she held him tightly as he opened his eyes. "Tonks…"

"Harry!" She hugged him wanting to stay there holding him forever but they weren't safe yet.

"Harry can you walk? We need to get out of here."

"I think so." He stood up with a lot of help from Tonks leaning heavily on her to keep from falling over. She transfigured their robes into muggle clothes and changed her appearance to that of a woman in her forties. She then began to cast a series of charms on Harry changing his hair color and general look. With one final charm to keep owls from locating them she put away her wand and they made their way to the street to summon a taxi.

"This guys probably gonna think your wasted the way your leaning on me Harry."

He grinned at her comment as she helped him into the back of the cab holding on to him tightly the whole time. She was worried about him but happier than she had ever been to have him back. Handing the driver fifty pounds she simply said "Drive."

_

* * *

_

Daily Profit Special Edition

_**HARRY POTTER ESCAPES FROM AZKABAN**_

_In a daring daytime raid on the wizarding prison Azkaban, now former Auror Nymphadora Tonks a known metamorphmagus assumed the identity of Albus Dumbledore and presented forged documents temporarily transferring inmate Harry Potter into her custody. Eye witnesses indicate that the Head of the Aurors Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Head of Magical Law Enforcement Amelia Bones and the most powerful wizard alive Albus Dumbledore were waiting at the dock when Tonks arrived. A skirmish ensued during which Tonks was able to elude said law enforcement officials with Harry Potter in tow._

_Harry Potter was convicted of murdering Draco Malfoy with the use of an unforgivable curse and sentenced to life in Azkaban without the possibility of parole. Though it can not be confirmed at this time it is rumored that Mr. Potter and Ms. Tonks are involved in a relationship and have been for some time._

_For more information on metamorphmagus see page 2, for information on Harry Potters trial see page 3._

The kitchen at Grimauld Place was in an uproar as they read the article. All of the Weasleys were there except for Percy as well as Hermione Granger, Mad Eye Moody, Mundungus Fletcher, Minerva McGonagall and to everyone's pleasure Severus Snape. It wasn't long before they were joined by Kingsley Shacklebolt, Amelia Bones and Albus Dumbledore who were just arriving from a long afternoon at the ministry.

"Is it true professor? Did Tonks really break Harry out? Where are they?" Hermione couldn't stand it throwing a barrage of questions at Dumbledore before he was even able to sit down.

Waving her off he began. "Yes Miss Granger it is true. Miss Tonks affected Harry's Escape earlier today. Quite ingenious if I may say so. Using her natural abilities she took on my appearance and used my position and reputation to have Harry transferred to her custody." He became pensive for a moment before continuing, "I do hope she got my twinkle right I'd hate to think I'd been seen without the proper amount."

"Professor! Honestly!" said an exasperated Hermione to a grinning Headmaster.

"Oh quite right, I do apologize." chuckled Dumbledore. "The three of us were at the dock when they arrived. I saw her begin to raise some wards around the front of the boat and must say I was most looking forward to seeing what her plan of escape would be she really is a most excellent Auror you know."

"Aye that she is." grumbled Mad Eye.

"She used The Patronus Charm to chase away the dementors and we started firing low level curses into her shields when she turned around and surprised us. You see it turns out Miss Tonks is an Animagus."

Gasps and exclamations of surprise were heard all around the table.

"Yes I quite agree I had no idea she was an animagus, in fact I had no idea a metamorphmagus could even be an animagus though it makes sense I suppose. Her form was that of a very large eagle and she flew away with Mr. Potter. Once outside the wards surrounding the dock and boat she returned to human form and port keyed them away."

Silence filled the room until it was broken by the harsh laughter of Moody. "Yup she's a tough one that girl is. She'll have her hands full with that Potter boy though." As he continued to chuckle.

"Albus, where are they? Will they come here?" asked Minerva.

"I do not know where they are now and no I do not expect them to come here. Though we all believe him to be innocent and would gladly assist in their hiding neither of them realizes this. Harry was placed in Azkaban without our being able to contact him and Nymphadora was out on assignment when the incident occurred. We were also trying to curse them, though I believe they will eventually figure out that we let them escape."

Moody jumped into the conversation. "Trust me, she already knows Albus."

Nodding in agreement he raised his own question, "Does anyone know if the rumors of a relationship are true?"

Dumbledore had expected an answer from Hermione or Ron but it was Moody who spoke up.

"Aye, I knew about it. I caught em with my eye but promised I'd keep their secret."

"How long have they been together?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know for sure, couple of years I spect."

Hermione and Ron seemed upset about Harry not sharing this with them. Moody picking up on this continued. "You do realize why he had to keep this a secret right? Can you imagine what a prize the girlfriend of the boy who lived would be to the dark lord?"

The pair nodded in understanding and Hermione sighed. "I know I just wish things didn't have to be so complicated for him all the time."

* * *

The Dark Lord Voldemort sat in his throne room an evil smirk playing at the corners of his mouth as a random Death Eater writhed in agony before him. Lifting the curse he spoke slowly, malice dripping from his voice. 

"Leave me."

Trembling and gasping for breath the Death Eater replied "Yes my lord." and quickly scurried from the room before the Dark Lord changed his mind.

Moments later Lucius Malfoy rushed into the chamber holding a special edition of the Daily Profit. "My Lord, I have just discovered news that I knew you would want to be made aware of immediately."

Lucius was getting more and more nervous as Voldemort scanned the paper, his anger increasing the further he read. By the end of the article he was in a towering rage.

"Find him Lucius! Take whomever you need and find him. Make sure he is returned to Azkaban before my plans are spoiled and bring me the girl."

"Yes my lord." He said bowing as he backed away.

"Oh and Lucius, in the future I expect you to show proper respect before addressing me."

The elder Malfoy cringed in fear knowing what was coming next.

"CRUCIO!"

* * *

A taxi pulled to a stop at the curb in front of a small apartment building on the outskirts of London. Two people stepped out the older woman helping the young man who was leaning heavily on her for support. Passing through a security door they entered the building and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Stopping and number 207 Tonks removed a small brass key from her pocket inserting it into the lock on the door to gain entrance. 

The flat was small consisting of a living room with a kitchen and bar along one wall, a small bathroom and a bedroom. The only furnishings were a leather sofa in the living room and a bed in the bedroom. Both items had been delivered earlier in the week after she had rented the apartment under an assumed name using fake muggle identification she had conjured.

Helping Harry to the bathroom she removed his cloths and cleaned the stench and filth of the infamous wizarding prison from his body before helping him to bed. She was turning to leave when she felt Harry grab her hand.

"Please don't go."

Returning her gaze to her boyfriend she almost cried at the look of desperation and fear clearly displayed on his face. She carefully climbed over him lying on the bed next to him and wrapping her arms protectively around him.

"It's ok now. Everything's ok."

"I didn't see you at the trial. I thought you believed them, that you hated me."

The anguish in his voice brought tears to her eyes. "Never Harry, not for a second. I only found out when I returned from my assignment and by then you had already been sent to Azkaban. I believe in you and will always be here for you. I love you."

Harry pulled her close holding her tightly. "I love you too." he whispered.

"You need to get some sleep would you like something to eat first?"

"No, just don't go, please stay with me. I'm afraid to sleep. Afraid that I'll wake up and this will all have been a dream."

"Shhh, sleep Harry. I'm not going anywhere. I promise I'll be right here in your arms when you wake up. I promise."

Tonks reached up slowly running her fingers through his hair and it wasn't long before his breathing slowed and he was fast asleep. She watched the young man she loved with all her heart sleep for a long time wondering how he found the strength to go on. Time after time he faced adversity and pain always managing to fight his way back from the brink somehow finding the strength to continue fighting for what was right and for those who could not fight for themselves. She pulled her hand away from his hair and leaned in placing a soft kiss on his lips before once again whispering to him. "I promise."

Laying her head on his chest it wasn't long before she too was fast asleep.

* * *

Tonks woke the next morning to the feeling of someone running their fingers through her hair. Tilting her head she found herself looking into the eyes of Harry Potter. She noticed his green eyes which had only yesterday been dull and lifeless had regained much of their warmth and happiness. 

"Morning luv."

"Mmmm, morning. How long have you been awake?"

"I don't know about an hour I guess." Harry said shrugging slightly.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"You looked so peaceful and content I just wanted to watch you sleep and was thinking things through. I can't believe what you did for me yesterday, what you risked."

"I love you Harry. I couldn't stand the thought of you in that place or of living without you."

Harry looked deep into her eyes seeing the truth of her words and the love shining through. A love she shared only with him.

"Marry me."

Tonks gasped as the words registered and she sat up staying as close to him as possible. "What?"

Harry reached up cupping her cheek and leaned in to place a tender kiss on her lips. "I love you Tonks. I couldn't imagine my life without you in it and I wouldn't want to. You proved to me yesterday how much you love me and I want to spend the rest of my life proving the same to you. Will you marry me?"

Tears of happiness were shining in her eyes and she was wearing the largest smile she ever had as she threw her arms around him.

"Yes, oh Harry, yes. I love you so much!"

They held each other passionately kissing for a long while until the need for air forced them to separate.

"I'm sorry I don't have a ring but I'll get you one as soon as I can."

"I'm not worried about that Harry. Just knowing I get to spend the rest of my life with you makes me happier than I've ever been. When do you want to get married?"

"I want to do it now but that's probably not going to happen seeing as we're both fugitives. Hopefully we can clear our names before too long so I can give you the wedding of your dreams."

Tonks smiled at his thoughtfulness. "No, I don't want to wait and I was never one of those girls who dreamed about a big fancy wedding. The only thing I want is to be married to you."

"Well, we could go to the States. I've heard of places there you can get married quickly. Plus it might not be a bad idea to get as far away from Europe as we can until we figure out what to do. What are we going to do for money though? I can't exactly go wandering around in Diagon Alley."

"Don't worry about that luv. I went to Gringotts and talked to your friend Griphook before I came to get you. Interestingly enough he said that most of the goblins including the banks board don't believe you're guilty not that they really care one way or the other. They setup another vault for us under the names of Harold and Adora Jameson transferring about half of your money into it. They also gave us muggle credit cards to access it. They would have transferred it all but knew if I was able to get you out the aurors would be watching your account to try to find you and we didn't want to implicate the goblins for aiding in your escape."

"You truly are brilliant."

"Well, I wasn't in Ravenclaw for nothing." she smiled. "Come on time to get up. There are some clean cloths in the bathroom for you. I'm going to fix us some breakfast."

* * *

The newly engaged couple stayed in the apartment for a week making sure Harry was fully recovered from his time in Azkaban before heading to Heathrow Airport and eventually Las Vegas Nevada in the United States. 

The desert sun beat down upon them as they exited the airport and made their way to a taxi. After climbing into the back the taxi pulled away from the curb and the driver addressed the couple.

"Where too?"

"We need to make a couple stops actually." said Harry, "Could you take us to a jewelry store, some place where we can get married and a nice hotel?"

"Your getting married? Congratulations. Why don't I take you to the Bellagio it's a nice hotel with jewelry stores inside and there are loads of places to get married within walking distance on the strip."

"That sounds great, thank you."

Harry held Tonks in the back seat both of them enjoying the sites as the taxi slowly worked its way through traffic finally arriving at the hotel Bellagio.

After paying the driver they entered the hotel and checked in. Once they had paid for their room and received their electronic key card they went in search of Tiffany's. For Tonks they selected an elegant silver setting with an emerald-cut diamond in the center and emeralds the color of Harry's eyes on either side. For Harry they chose a simple platinum band. On the inside of each they had engraved 'All my love, forever.'

With their purchases in hand they left the hotel wandering along the strip in search of a place to make their vows. They entered a small chapel on the side of the road and after filling out the necessary paperwork and paying a small fee they waited for their turn.

Hand in hand they stepped up to the minister laughing in delight as they realized they were about to be married by Elvis Presley.

Relishing in the love that was clear to see in each others eyes they made their vows slipping the rings on to each others fingers. As the ceremony came to an end they leaned towards each other sharing a long passionate kiss, their first as husband and wife.

They left the chapel to a rock and roll version of the wedding march arm in arm making their way quickly back to their hotel intent on spending some quality time together in their room.

"Of course you realize Mrs. Potter that I can no longer call you Tonks."

"I hadn't thought of that."

Harry smirked and started to speak but was abruptly cut off. "Don't even think about using my first name Potter!" she said with a mock glare and a tone similar to Professor McGonagall's causing them both to break down laughing.

"I wouldn't think of it luv. How about Adora? I actually like it better than I liked Tonks. It seems more personal than using your last name. You could of course go by Potter but that would probably get confusing when both of us are around."

"Hmm, Adora. Yah, I think I like that."

The newly christened Adora smiled and kissed Harry firmly on the lips.

"I love you Harry."

"I love you Adora."

* * *

They spent the next several days as many honeymooning couples do. When they weren't in their hotel room they were exploring the strip stopping to watch the shows in front of the various hotels sneaking kisses and hugs whenever they felt like it. 

They were wandering around hand in hand and decided to stop and watch their favorite show in front of the Treasure Island Hotel for the third time. Harry stood behind Adora his arms wrapped around her as the battle ensued. As the ship sank and the show ended she turned in his arms and they shared a mind numbing kiss before turning around to leave and running into an old man accidentally knocking him to the pavement.

"I'm so sorry." Harry apologized as he helped the man up.

Harry and Adora's breath hitched as they took in the man's appearance. Though he seemed rather old and was dressed in muggle clothing it was immediately clear the man was a wizard and an extremely powerful one at that.

As uncomfortable as they were running into another wizard while on the run it was what he said next that worried them the most.

"That's quite all right, no harm done… Mr. Potter."


	2. Mentor

**Chapter 2 – Mentor**

Harry and Adora began to back off slowly, Adora's hand wrapped tightly around her wand, but before they were able to take more than a few steps they were stopped by the old man.

"Please don't be frightened I mean you no harm, in fact I would like to offer my assistance if I could."

"You want to help us? Why?" Harry asked warily.

"I'm sorry Harry I've just realized I'm being terribly rude please allow me to introduce myself. David Filch at your service." he said extending his hand.

Harry gaped at the old man in shock barely registering Adora's grip on his arm tightening upon hearing the stranger's name.

"Filch?"

"Yes Harry, I believe you know my grandson Argus." he said smiling.

"Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch is your grandson?"

"Yes I'm afraid so. And yes though I haven't seen him in a decade or two I do understand that being the only squib in a long line of wizards has made him a bit… bitter."

"That's putting it mildly." Harry said causing David to chuckle. "You still haven't said why you want to help us."

Reaching in his pocket he pulled out a folded piece of parchment and handed it to Harry. Unfolding the letter and held it so that Adora could read it as well.

_Dear David,_

_I hope my letter finds you well. I must apologize, I know I haven't spoken to you in a long time but I have been rather busy as of late what with the rebirth of Voldemort and all._

_I would like to ask a favor of you. I believe two of my charges will be in your neighborhood soon and would very much appreciate it if you wouldn't mind looking after them. The individuals in question are Harry and Nymphadora Potter. I believe you are already familiar with most of their history so I will digress. It seems the ministry here is once again causing trouble for this young man and though I am unable to provide proof at this time I assure you he is completely innocent of the charges against him._

_If you could provide them with safe sanctuary I would be most appreciative. I would also ask if you are willing, to provide the young couple with a bit of training. Unfortunately thanks to a certain prophecy a great burden rests on their shoulders and they will have no choice but to return one day soon._

_By the way old friend I would highly recommend a muggle sweet I have recently been made aware of called gummy bears. I find them most enjoyable._

_Please give Harry and Nymphadora my regards and best wishes on a happy marriage._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

"You're a friend of Professor Dumbledore's?" asked Adora.

"Ahh yes, I've know Albus for close to a hundred years now. In fact it was through our mutual like of sweets that we met." He chuckled merrily as he reached into his pocket and offered them the contents of a small cellophane bag. "Gummy bear?"

Adora smiled and took a few of the offered sweets. Harry however declined still having questions he wished to pose.

"How did he know where we were and that we got married?"

Laughing heartily he replaced the bag in his pocket before answering. "Unfortunately I am unable to answer those questions. In the many years I have been friends with Albus I have rarely been able to get a straight answer from him and have never been able to get him to tell me how he finds out the things he does. As for how I was able to find you, you're marriage is a matter of public record. Your aura was very easy to spot once I knew your general location."

Harry smiled in complete understanding.

Reaching into another pocket David removed a red feather and handed it to Harry. "This is a portkey that will take you directly to my home. Should you decide you would like to accept my offer it will activate when you are both touching it. Regardless whether you decide to accept my offer or not please be careful, though they are few in number there are death eaters here in the states."

After saying their goodbyes David left and Harry and Adora returned to their hotel.

* * *

The newlyweds sat on the side of their bed hand in hand contemplating the impromptu meeting they had just come from. 

"What do you think?"

"I don't know Harry. Something about him makes me want to trust him. I'm not really sure what, just a feeling. Dumbledore's letter helps. I knew he let us get away that day at the docks."

"True." he said letting out a long sigh. "I'm not sure we really have many options at this point anyway. Eventually I have to go back and face Voldemort, it would be nice to be able to get some training and he must be good if Dumbledore wants him to train us."

"So we're going to do this then?" Adora asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, let's do it." replied Harry.

After packing quickly they searched the room a final time to make sure they left nothing behind. As they both took hold of the feather they felt the distinctive pull of the portkey activating and disappeared from the hotel room.

* * *

David Filch sat on the porch of a log cabin overlooking a small lake in a large wooded area. His gaze wandered over the beautiful scenery as his mind thought back to the meeting he had left only hours before. He was impressed with the young couple and amazed at the amount of power Harry contained though he noted Harry seemed unaware it was there. 

As he sat musing over the couple he hoped would soon be joining him he felt a familiar tingle in the back of his mind indicating his wards were being breached. A few moments later the very people he had been thinking about appeared in front of the cabin.

"Welcome to my home." David said merrily as he stood to greet them.

Adora smiled back. "Thank you for having us."

"Please come inside and we'll get you settled in."

Entering the cabin they were greeted by a fairly large and very comfortable looking living room. The wall to the right was covered by a fireplace that seemed large enough to heat the entire cabin. Several soft leather chairs and couches were arranged around the mouth of the fire place with an end table by each. To their left was a simple dining table surrounded by wooden chairs. The walls were adorned with various pictures of the muggle world. In fact everything about the room seemed muggle.

David spoke as they passed through the room and down a hallway situated across from the entry door. "This is the living room of course, that door" he said as he pointed to the left of the hallway they were about to enter, "goes to the kitchen. The first door on your left in the hall also goes there." Opening a door on the right side of the hallway opposite the kitchen door he let them have a look. "This is the library."

David grinned at the look of astonishment on their faces at the sight of the obviously magically expanded room. The library was easily the size of the one at Hogwarts. "Yes well I guess I have a bit of an obsession with reading. Not a lot else to do out here you know." Closing the door he continued down the hall to the remaining rooms. "The door strait ahead leads outside the one on the left is my room and you'll be staying here."

The room he led them into was simply appointed containing a rustic style of furniture which suited the cabin well. A door in the back of the room led to a simple but functional washroom.

"Why don't you make your selves at home and when your ready I'll be in the kitchen preparing dinner."

Closing the door behind him as he left David went back to the kitchen.

* * *

Dinner was a simple but filling affair consisting of beef stew and corn bread. After everyone had had their fill David cleaned up the mess with a wave of his hand and led them to the living room to sit in front of the fireplace. 

"I can't thank you enough for having us." said Harry, "You have a wonderful home and it's very beautiful here."

David smiled at his thoughtfulness, "You're quite welcome and both of you please make your selves at home. To be honest I'm glad to have you here it has been getting a bit lonely out here the last couple of years."

Harry returned his smile. "You mentioned you might be willing to train us, well actually I guess Dumbledore asked if you would in his letter. We are a bit curious about what training you could provide if you are willing that is."

"I would be delighted to help you both. I suppose we would start with physical and magical endurance training. I understand you both have a firm grasp on Occulmency which we would want to gain complete mastery of as well as Legilimancy. In your particular situation you would also benefit from battle training both in physical and magical combat and tactics. No doubt we will discover other talents along the way you may wish to train in also such as animagus or invisibility."

Harry and Adora kept sharing glances. They were both getting excited at the thought of all they could learn from this man. "Really? You would really be willing to teach us all that?"

"Yes I would." David held up his hands seeing the delighted looks on their faces. "You need to know I'm no easy task master. The training I'm talking about will be very demanding and require a lot of dedication on your part. Anything less than your absolute best effort and that will be the end of it."

"I'm in." said Adora.

"Me too." added Harry. "I will need a new wand though mine was broken at the trial."

David's face showed a look of amusement as he sat back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest. "And what would you need a wand for Harry?"

Harry looked confused as he responded. "Well, to perform magic."

Chuckling softly at his answer David waved his hand summoning three butter beers from the kitchen.

"Harry you have no idea how much power you wield do you?"

"I guess I'm a bit above average and I always got good grades but I've never been particularly good at anything except defense."

"I believe you are capable of far more than you realize, in fact I would rate your power roughly equal to Dumbledore's." Harry and Adora both looked stunned at his words. "We'll need to teach you the basics and work on your magical endurance but you should have no problem picking up wandless magic with your power levels."

"No, there's no way I'm as powerful as Dumbledore."

"I assure you that you are Harry."

The young couple sat in silence for several minutes flabbergasted at what they had just learned before David finally stood up. Walking to the fireplace he removed a long thin box from the mantel which he gave to Harry.

"However you are correct. To perform the more advanced magic's you will still require a magical focus."

Opening the box Harry was startled to find his wand. A wand he was sure he had seen snapped at his farce of a trial. Along with the wand was a note written in the familiar loopy script of Albus Dumbledore.

_Harry,_

_Some things are not always as they seem. There are many of us who never lost our faith in you. I have taken the liberty of removing all of the tracking charms from your wand._

_Sincerely,_

_The Order of the Phoenix_

Harry smiled and handed to note to Adora to read. Waving his wand in the air red and gold sparks emitted from the tip and the familiar feeling of magic and power washed over him.

David grinned at the young man before him as he started for the hallway. "Well I am going to bed. I would recommend you do the same as you're in for long hard days starting tomorrow."

* * *

The days turned into weeks and the weeks into months. Harry and Adora had both mastered Occulmency and Legilimancy and were coming along well in their physical combat and magical battle training. Harry's wandless magic was amazing but whether he used a wand or not Harry still seemed to lack the raw power in his spells that David knew he had. Four months had passed and they were working on battle magic when David decided they were ready to learn a special spell that would assist them in acting as a cohesive unit rather than two individuals. 

Sitting them down in the living room he began. "Have either of you heard of a spell called 'Communico Alucinor'?"

Both Harry and Adora shook their heads no so he continued. "Basically it allows two people to communicate telepathically though it's actually a spell and not true telepathy. It's extremely dangerous until mastered as you can easily loose pieces of your mind to the one you are connecting to. In many cases involving the use or rather the training to use this spell so much of the individuals mind is lost that death is the result."

The worried voice of Adora spoke up. "Are you sure we should risk learning something that dangerous?" Harry nodded in agreement.

A smiling David continued. "I believe the benefits in battle will most definitely outweigh the danger of learning. I've had you master Occulmency before even suggesting this as that particular skill will eliminate most of the danger."

Seeing the pair relax a bit he returned to his explanation. "The spell has an operating range which depends on your level of magical power. On a magical level the spell works by creating a thread of magic between the two individuals magical cores over which the communication occurs. As you get farther apart the thread stretches and eventually breaks ending the spell and subsequently your ability to communicate in a telepathic manner."

David gave them several minutes to digest the information before asking. "Would you like to try this?"

After sharing a look they both agreed to try.

"Ok, before you cast the spell I want you to both clear your minds and bring up your strongest Occulmency shields. Once one of you casts the spell you should both feel a push against your barriers very similar to what a tentative Legilimancy intrusion feels like though with practice you should be able to tell the difference between the two. Don't open your mind to the connection all at once, but slowly. This will be the dangerous part, just make sure you do it a little at a time so you don't run the risk of merging your minds and loosing yourself. Do you both understand?"

"I do." said Adora.

"So do I." said Harry. Turning to his wife he continued, "Would you like to try first?"

"Sure."

After clearing their minds and bringing up their shields Adora pointed her wand at Harry and said the spell. "Communico Alucinor."

They both felt the familiar sense of their mental shields being probed though it was different somehow, almost comforting rather than intruding. As they allowed their shields to weaken at the point of the connection they were able to project their thoughts to one another.

'- Adora? –'

'- Harry can you hear me? –'

'- Yes! This is so cool! –'

'- Amazing, think of all the stuff we can do with this. –'

Harry mentally laughed through their connection. '- We should end the spell and let David know its working. –'

'- Alright luv. –' "Finite Incatatem."

Harry and Adora were both visibly excited after ending the spell. "That was brilliant!"

"Ah, I take it you were successful then." said a smiling David.

"Yes we were I can see were that will be really useful."

"You will need to practice it eventually you should get to the point where you can make the connection without having to worry about your mental barriers. We should also check the distance to see what your effective range is. Remember that the range will depend on the power behind the castor so I would expect the range to be greater when Harry casts the spell."

They spent most of the day practicing the spell. I wasn't long before their magical cores recognized the magic and readily accepted it without their needing to manipulate their mental shields. During their practice they found that if Adora cast the spell they could communicate up to about fifty meters. With Harry casting it would increase to around one hundred and fifty meters.

The Potters were walking back towards the cabin hand in hand when Harry had a thought.

"Adora, I wonder, if we both cast the spell at the same time do you think we would get a larger strand of magic?"

"I don't know for sure, it makes sense. If it worked we should be able to go two hundred meters or more."

"Do you want to try it?" asked Harry.

"Sure."

Stopping they turned to face each other and with a nod both cast the spell.

"Communico Alucinor!"

As the spells connected they felt the familiar feeling of their mental connection spring to life for a few seconds before their worlds exploded in pain and darkness took hold.

* * *

Two days had passed since David had discovered his charges unconscious outside the cabin. He had performed every diagnostic spell he knew and had researched many more in his library but had been unable to determine what was happening to them. Physically he could find nothing wrong with either of them but magically he could sense great shifts in magical power within the couple. He dropped the book he was reading and leapt up from the chair he had been keeping his vigil from as Harry began to stir. 

"Harry? Harry, can you hear me?" David nervously asked.

"Mmmm." Harry mumbled as he sat up, his hands rubbing his eyes. "How did I get inside?"

"You had an accident Harry I'm not sure what happened. How do you feel?"

"I feel great, better than ever." Harry said feeling more invigorated and powerful than he had ever felt before.

"What were you and Adora doing before you passed out?"

"Adora!" Harry stated, frantically looking around to find his wife next to him on the bed.

"Relax Harry, she's fine, she's still sleeping. You both have been out for a little over two days now. What's the last thing you remember before you woke up a few minutes ago?"

Harry thought hard before answering. "We were coming back to the cabin after practicing 'Communico Alucinor' and wondered if we could increase the range if we both cast the spell to put more power into it. It seemed to work at first then I remember a lot of pain and waking up here."

David was shocked that they would try to manipulate such a dangerous spell without thoroughly researching the possible consequences first. As he thought about the possibilities he realized what must have happened, what must still be happening. He cast several spells over Harry and Adora to confirm what he suspected and as he did his expression of shock changed to one of delight and he began to laugh out loud.

"David?"

"Oh, sorry Harry. First I need to say that what you did was a very unintelligent thing to do. You should always study a spell thoroughly before attempting any modifications such as you did, your lucky the magic didn't kill you both."

Harry looked down clearly upset that he'd put his wife at risk. David placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Harry, it's ok. You're both fine, in fact I'd say your both better than fine."

"What do you mean better than fine?" said Harry as he looked up at David.

"I've been wondering all week what happened to you but I believe you've given me the final pieces to the puzzle. Apparently instead of creating one larger thread as you had intended you still created two smaller ones but the attraction of the two threads caused a rush of magic to fill the void between them. It appears as though you now have a permanent channel between your cores and an extremely large one at that. Not only should you be able to share your thoughts over a virtually unlimited distance but I believe raw magic and possibly your abilities as well."

"Raw magic and abilities?" asked a confused Harry.

David smiled broadly. "I mean Harry that the two of you are now sharing each others magic. If you were as powerful as Dumbledore before, you would be more powerful than him now as you have Adora's magic added to your own. She also has access to your magic and would therefore be equally as powerful as you. What's more since your sharing your magic you should also inherit each others magically determined abilities for example you should now be a metamorphmagus."

Harry smiled broadly and began to chuckle as David continued. "There's more Harry. It looks like the problems we were having with you manifesting your true power were being caused by the remnants of the killing curse Voldemort used on you when you were a baby. The magical backlash from the creation of the connection seems to have washed that away so you should find magic much easier to use now. The other thing I see happening is that your and Adora's cores are changing, seeking equilibrium across the connection between them and their doing this by increasing the size of Adora's magical core to match your own. I'm guessing that's why she hasn't woken up yet. Judging by the rate of increase I say she has another week or so."

"Does that mean that when this is done we should both be about twice as powerful as Dumbledore?"

"Of course this is all speculation at this point but yes I believe that is correct."

"You're sure she'll be alright?" he said looking at the sleeping face of his wife. "I'll never forgive myself if she's hurt by this."

"Try not to worry Harry I'm sure she'll be fine. Until she wakes and we have a chance to train you to control your new power I would try to avoid using magic though. Come on, let's go to the kitchen. You must be starving after being asleep for so long."

Harry leaned over kissing Adora on the forehead and reluctantly left her to sleep following David to the kitchen for a much needed meal.

* * *

It was almost exactly a week later when the magic between the pair seemed to settle. Harry had only left her side to eat and get books from the library to help him pass the time. He had discovered a couple old tombs which had given him some ideas on how to address the current Dark Lord and Death Eater problems he was facing. These books included several on advanced warding, two on magical map making and two on the history and construction of wizarding prisons. 

Harry's book fell to the floor as he jumped from his seat when Adora began to shift on the bed finally waking from her long slumber. As her violet eyes opened they were met with the concerned look of her husbands face.

"Hey luv, nice of you to finally wake up." Harry said as he lovingly stroked the side of her face.

Her voice cracked from disuse as she tried to speak. She stopped to lick her lips and was handed a glass of water.

"What happened? How long was I out?"

"Too long luv, too long. I know your hungry, why don't we go to the kitchen and I'll explain what's happened while you get something to eat." Harry said with a grin.

Nodding in agreement as she realized how hungry she actually was she pulled him into a long kiss before heading out the door and down the hall to the kitchen followed closely by a beaming Harry.

* * *

With the Potters awake and their new found strength and abilities they resumed training once more. David marveled at the pair's progress over the following months. He had been amazed at what they had been accomplishing before the accident but was nothing short of astounded with their new found power and ability to learn and use what he taught them. 

It had been a year since Harry and Adora had accepted David's offer of sanctuary and training and the results were undeniable. David had given up sparring with the couple several months earlier when he realized he was no longer in their league. He continued to instruct and assist them in their training but their skills now far exceeded his own and they had resorted to practicing against each other. He was most impressed with the young couple's wandless abilities. With the large well of power they shared between them they were able to cast almost every spell, only needing a wand for the most complicated ones.

It was a sad day for David as he stood in front of his cabin with Harry and Adora. He hated to see them leave but knew the time had finally come. The war was escalating and Harry was the only one who could end it.

"I'm gonna miss you two." David said.

"We're going to miss you too David." Harry replied pulling David into a hug. As he stepped back Adora took his place.

"We can't thank you enough for all your help."

"Well don't be strangers I've adjusted the wards and you're both welcome here anytime."

Harry and Adora stepped back holding hands and with a final wave and grin disappeared.

"Stay safe you two." whispered David to no one as he headed back to his now empty cabin.


	3. The Potters

**Chapter 3 – The Potters**

It had been two long years since Harry and Adora's disappearance after she had broken him out of Azkaban Prison. Two figures cloaked in black with hoods covering their faces moved through a decaying old neighborhood. As they approached their destination they both thought "The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place" From nowhere a large house seemed to squeeze itself into existence between two homes. Looking at each other they both nodded and turned invisible. Making their way into the house they moved silently through the shadows down into the kitchen where members of the Order of the Phoenix were assembling for a meeting.

Albus Dumbledore was preparing to call the meeting to order when he noticed the kitchen door swing part way open before closing again. Looking closely he was able to locate two individuals using extremely advanced transfiguration to hide them selves. He knew whoever they were they had to be extremely powerful to perform that level of magic and they were doing an amazing job of it. Something felt familiar about their magic and his eyes began to twinkle in an almost manic way as he realized who the unannounced pair was.

"If everyone is ready I would like to get started." said Dumbledore, "But first I believe introductions are in order."

Everyone was looking around in confusion except Dumbledore who was beaming. He was also staring at a blank portion of wall to one side of the door. Everyone followed his gaze and a few seconds later Harry and Adora faded into view.

"Harry! Tonks!" The pair was immediately accosted by the majority of the room. After many hugs, handshakes and greetings they were finally able to sit down at the table.

"What happened to you, where have you been?" Hermione was grinning widely thrilled to be able to see her best friend again after such a long time.

Harry was about to answer when Severus Snape decided it was time to add his two knuts. "Well, well, well… Potter. The arrogant brat finally decides to return. Tired of hiding with your tail between your legs or are you planning on hiding here like that mutt of a godfather of yours did."

Before anyone could blink Snape found himself pinned against the wall. Adora's left hand held his throat tightly while her right held a white ball of energy that seemed to crackle with power only inches from his chest. He found himself frozen with fear as his eyes met hers and he gained a glimpse of the amount of power she now wielded.

"I made a lot of promises to Harry most of which he didn't want me to make, but I did anyway. One of them was that I wasn't going to put up with you harassing him any longer so let me make myself perfectly clear to you 'Snivellus'," Her magic could be felt thick in the air as her aura began to glow. Tightening her grip around Snape's throat she continued in a menacing voice "The next time you so much as sneeze in Harry's direction I will show you exactly what this ball of magic is capable of." She waved the ball she was holding in his face one last time before letting the magic dissipate and returning to Harry's side.

Harry wrapped a protective arm around her as she sat down beside him. The others present were surprised that far from being upset about the potion masters comments Harry seemed rather amused by the whole exchange.

Ron was the first to regain the ability to speak. "That was wicked Tonks!"

His comment earned him a glare from the potions master and a smack in the back of his head from Hermione. "Honestly Ron."

Harry chuckled. "Well the first thing we should probably get out of the way is that you can't call her Tonks anymore, she goes by Adora now."

"What? Why's that Ton...I mean Adora." said Hermione.

Adora shot a wicked grin towards Harry before holding up her left hand displaying a stunning diamond ring for all to see. "Because my last name isn't Tonks anymore, it's Potter." She beamed as she delivered the news she had been dying to share with her friends since her wedding.

Once again pandemonium reigned as the young married couple was given another round of hugs and handshakes as well as congratulations.

Albus Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling brightly as he addressed the pair. "If you're up to it I would very much like to hear everything that happened to you after I broke Harry out of Azkaban." He grinned and looked at Adora as he made his last comment.

A blush appeared on her cheeks. "Sorry Professor, it was the only thing I could come up with."

"Not at all Mrs. Potter." he replied merrily.

"Well after we port keyed away we took a muggle taxi across town to a small flat I rented under an assumed name the week before. We stayed there for about a week to let Harry recover from his time in Azkaban." She spat out the name of the wizarding prison with obvious loathing.

"I was stuck in bed for most of the week, she was worse than Madam Pomphrey!"

Everyone in the room laughed and Harry received a playful punch in the shoulder for his comment. He tightened his grip on her pulling her closer to him. "I was absolutely amazed at what she'd done for me. What she'd risked. The first thing I did was ask her to marry me." The entire room was silent as Harry and Adora shared a quick moment before Harry returned to their story.

"Well, we knew we couldn't get married using our real names in Europe so we decided to go to the states and ended up getting married in a muggle ceremony in Nevada."

Hermione was getting noticeably excited. "Oh Adora was it beautiful?"

Adora sat up in her seat leaning on the table in a very excited and very girly pose. "Hermione! It was everything I wanted it to be!" she paused briefly for dramatic effect before finishing. "Fast!"

Hermione was stunned her excitement changing to a mixture of shock and curiosity.

"Excuse me?"

Adora was laughing at the look on Hermione's face. "Sorry Hermione, couldn't resist." She laughed, "No we got married by an Elvis impersonator in a walk in chapel and left to a rock and roll version of the wedding march."

Remus almost fell off his chair in hysterics. Tears of laughter were streaming down his face as he managed to sputter out, "Harry, you just lived Sirius dream wedding!"

Harry grinned widely at the comment and chuckled thinking about the comments Sirius would have had about his wedding. "Well, it was kind of funny."

Everyone laughed heartily picturing Harry and Adora's wedding. The couple smiled seeing the mirth in each others eyes as they looked at one another. When the laughter finally died down Harry continued.

"We spent the next couple days wandering around Las Vegas enjoying our honeymoon. I think it was our third day there, we had just finished watching one of the shows and literally ran into a wizard named David Filch." With a grin directed at Professor Dumbledore he continued. "Apparently our esteemed Headmaster asked him to check on us and we ended up staying and training with him for about a year."

"I am curious about the power Mrs. Potter displayed earlier. I'm quite certain she was not that powerful before you both left." Dumbledore said with his eyes still twinkling.

Harry grinned and Adora blushed slightly also grinning. "That was actually an accident. Are you familiar with 'Communico Alucinor' Professor?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Harry please tell me you didn't, that spell can be extremely dangerous."

Noticing the looks of confusion Harry addressed the entire group. "Basically it allows two people to communicate telepathically though it's actually a spell and not true telepathy."

Dumbledore assisted in the explanation. "It's extremely dangerous until mastered as you can easily loose pieces of your mind to the one you are connecting to, if the wrong part is lost for example the part which controls your breathing you can easily die."

Harry could see the shock on everyone's faces. "True Professor however Occulmency can eliminate most of the danger."

"That is also true Harry. What exactly happened in your case?"

"The spell has an operating range which depends on your level of magical power. The spell works by creating a thread of magic between the two individual's magical cores. As you get farther apart the thread stretches and eventually breaks ending your connection. During training we wondered if we could create a larger thread by both casting the spell at the same time thus increasing the distance over which we could communicate. Apparently instead of creating one larger thread we still created two but the attraction of the two caused a rush of magic to fill the space between them. We ended up with a permanent channel between our cores large enough to not only share thoughts but raw magic and our abilities as well. Basically when it comes right down to it we combined and now share our magic."

"Fascinating Harry, how powerful do you believe you are now?" asked Dumbledore.

"That's actually another interesting bit. It seems the killing curse left a bit of dark magic behind which has been inhibiting my power all these years and the influx of Adora's magic washed it away. Also the link wasn't stable at first so the magic made Adora's core grow to match mine. I'm just guessing but right now I expect were about twice as powerful as you are Professor."

Everyone wore astonished looks on their faces except Dumbledore who was grinning and twinkling more than he had in a long time. It was Minerva McGonagall who spoke next. "Mr. Potter you said you trained for a year but you've been gone two years. Where have you been?"

Harry and Adora grinned at each other before Harry returned his gaze to his transfiguration professor. "Capturing Death Eaters."

Snape finally regaining his composure stood and pointed to Harry. "You're the one responsible for the missing Death Eaters?"

"Yup, but I had help." he said pointing to Adora.

"Harry," interjected Professor Dumbledore, "are you trying to tell us the two of you are responsible for the 86 missing death eaters?"

"Yes."

"Not possible." muttered Snape though he sat quickly looking abashed when he noticed Adora eyeing him and playing with a small ball of energy.

"I don't suppose you could elaborate for us Mr. Potter." said McGonagall.

Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose and slowly exhaled a deep breath before beginning.

"Well grab a drink and get comfortable it's kind of a long story."

* * *

After saying their goodbye's the Potters left the safety of David Filch's home and returned to England to search for a good site to put their plans into motion. 

After weeks of searching they discovered a large abandoned bunker leftover from a muggle war. It had five large underground chambers connected with a maze of passages and appeared perfect for their needs.

They began by casting the Fidilius Charm on the structure to hide it making Harry the secret keeper. Once hidden the pair spent the next week setting up every kind of ward they could think of pouring their combined power into their protections and defenses until it was one of the most secure locations in England.

Once the location was safe and secure they began their renovations on the inside. They sectioned the first of the large chambers into several rooms creating a comfortable living area for them to stay in as well as what they dubbed the command center, a potions lab, a large area for training and a very large kitchen. Once the areas were completely setup and furnished they moved on to the next phase of their construction project.

The remaining four chambers were sectioned into small cells measuring 10 foot square. Each cell was equipped with a thin mattress and a muggle toilet. The entrance to each cell was protected by a heavy wooden door with no handle on the inside and a slot along the bottom through which a tray of food could be pushed. From outside you could see through the door into the cell. A complex set of wards were added to each room which prohibited magic from being performed and disabled magical forms of transportation such as port keys and apparition to anyone except those keyed into the wards. They were able to create 500 of these holding cells in the four chambers.

It had taken two months for Harry and Adora to complete their new Death Eater Prison and they were sitting around a table in their command center which contained a large map of the world they had been working on.

"Well luv, we'll need to catch a death eater to finish the map. And we also need to get in touch with Dobby."

As soon as the name Dobby left his lips a very excitable house elf popped into existence in front of the pair and launched himself at Harry.

"Harry Potter sir called Dobby! Dobby is so happy a wizard as great as Harry Potter is wanting Dobby! What can Dobby be doing for you Mr. Harry Potter sir?"

Harry glared at Adora as she bit her finger to keep from laughing at the situation Harry found himself in, but smiled as he turned to Dobby.

"Hello Dobby. It's good to see you again. I was wondering if you would like to work for me and Winky as well if she would like to."

Harry almost laughed out loud afraid Dobby would pass out if he became any more excited and Adora's snickering wasn't helping him keep control.

After several minutes of bouncing around in excitement the little elf finally managed to respond. "Oh Harry Potter sir! I is liking that very much! I is also knowing Winky is not happy not working for a family."

Dobby disappeared and before Harry could wonder where he went reappeared with Winky.

"Hello Winky, it's good to see you again." Harry said in greeting to the shy elf.

Winky curtsied before speaking. "I is honored you is wanting me to work for you Master Harry Potter sir."

Harry chuckled, these two would never change he thought. "I'm happy to have you here Winky. There won't be a lot of work for awhile but hopefully if everything goes to plan you'll be kept extremely busy a few months from now."

Dobby and Winky both looked excited at the thought of all the work they would have to do.

Harry and Adora started to show the elves around but were quickly told by the pair it was not necessary so they settled for explaining what they had in mind and would need from them in the future.

Once the house elves were settled and began going about their tasks Harry and Adora used their metamorphmagus ability to change their appearance and apperated to Hogsmeade.

After arriving they made their way to the Hogs Head and took seats at a small table near the back of the pub where they could observe the patrons. It wasn't long before they recognized Walden Macnair enter the small establishment with two men in cloaks that they didn't recognize.

'What do you think Adora?' Harry asked his wife through their mind link as he sipped on his drink.

Adora took a quick look around the bar. 'The other two are probably Death Eaters too. There's only them the bartender and another pair in the far corner. We could stun them all.'

'Right, can you take out the two in the corner and the bartender?'

Adora nodded and stood up. Harry waited for her to reach the pair in the corner before moving. As soon as he saw her cast the first curse he started sending stunners at the Death Eaters. In a manner of seconds the six people in the bar were unconscious. Checking everyone's arms they found that the two in the corner were also Death Eaters and immediately created five portkeys to deliver them all too holding cells back at their home base. As soon as they finished the left the bar sending an enervate at the bartender as they walked out the door.

Apperating back to their Death Eater Prison they entered the cell's where the prisoners had been transported directly too and searched each one of them. After removing all of the items on their person they dosed each one with Veritiserum and asked a standard list of questions they had composed recording the entire conversation with a verbatim quill. Some of the questions were to find out general information such as their names, the crimes they had committed and their position within Voldemort's organization while others were to find out about the about the organization itself such as names of other Death Eaters, plans and who or what was being recruited.

* * *

The entire Order of the Phoenix was hanging on Harry's every word as they listened to the tale of the pairs last year. 

"Once we had a Death Eater we were able to add the Dark Mark to the map."

"What do you mean Harry?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"The large map we made in the situation room is basically a Marauders map only instead of displaying names it shows were people with the Dark Mark are." Harry told him with a grin.

McGonagall and much of the rest of the Order looked excited at the thought of the map. "Are you saying Mr. Potter that you know where all of the Death Eaters are?"

Harry sighed. "Well, not exactly. Turns out most of Voldemort's locations are unplottable so when Death eaters go there they don't appear on the map. There also not as easy to catch as you would think. Most of the time when we show up their either in a large crowd or they disappear before we can get there or it's Snape."

Several members chuckled at the Snape comment though the man in question just growled.

"I must say that's brilliant Harry. So you just wait to find them alone and stun them before port keying them away?"

Harry shook his head. "No, that's what we started out doing but it was a bit clumsy and dangerous and like you said they hand to be alone or mostly so. We found a better way."

Ignoring the curious looks he was receiving Harry reached into his robes and pulled out a small glass marble and passed it to Hermione who was sitting next to him.

"It's a marble." she said.

Harry nodded. "Yes, a simple muggle marble. Pass it around so everyone can get a look."

The marble was passed around until finally it was passed to Snape. The moment he was the only one touching it he disappeared. Several of the Order members jumped up pulling their wands but settled down when they noticed Harry and Adora chuckling.

"Don't worry everyone, he's ok." Harry said. "It's a special portkey we designed. It's set to activate when it touches someone with the Dark Mark. You'd be surprised how easy it is to catch Death Eaters when all you have to do is say 'Hey!' and toss it to them. It's a natural reflex to catch it and then their gone. Since they can't do magic in the cells and we can it's easy to stun them to do the search and questioning."

"I must say I'm very impressed, you two just continue to keep surprising me. But I must ask what you have done with Severus." Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling brightly.

"It's a surprise." Harry chuckled. "He'll be back in a moment. I made his portkey special there's something I wanted him to see." Harry and Adora shared a knowing grin as they waited for Severus to return.

A minute later he did wearing a look of total shock on his face. Looking at Harry he barely managed to stutter out "D… D… Draco."

Once again the room went wild. Finally Dumbledore sent up a blast from his wand to regain everyone's attention. "Is this true Harry?" he said with no small amount of hope in his voice.

Harry just nodded smiling widely. "Caught him about two weeks ago."

"Then you can prove your innocence! We should take him to the Ministry!"

"No, there's too much corruption there right now and I'll not let that little basterd buy his way out. I'll worry about clearing my name when the wars over."

Dumbledore sighed and nodded in understanding "I am curious Harry you've been in the country for about a year now, why did you not come back to us sooner? And to continue on that line of questioning if you're not here to clear your name, then why have you come back now?"

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He seemed to age several years as he put his thoughts in order. "We've discovered something that we don't understand but think it could be a big problem."

All eyes were on Harry taking in his grim look as he removed a map from within his robes. "This is a map we keep, marking the locations where there has been Death Eater activity. I know the aurors keep one like it and I'm sure the Order has one too." he said as he unrolled the map of the United Kingdom. The map was an outline of the UK with all the larger cities and wizarding communities clearly marked. Scattered across the map were various marks where the Death Eaters had done their vile work.

"We do have one but yours looks a bit different from ours." Mad Eye Moody said.

"It is, ours is if far more accurate than yours is." Harry replied receiving many grumbles from the Order. They were all silenced with a look from Harry. "This map, like yours, shows all" he said emphasizing the word all, "Death Eater activity. Have you noticed that there have a lot of Death Eater attacks where they haven't sent up the Dark Mark?"

"Yes we have wondered about that." Dumbledore said with a thoughtful look on his face as he examined the map wondering where Harry was going with this.

"We wondered about that too." Harry replied. "Here, look what happens when you remove everything except the attacks where a Dark Mark was sent up." Harry waved his wand over the map leaving only the locations where the Dark Mark was sent up remaining. Everyone in the room gasped at what they saw.

Harry was nodding as they began to understand. "Right. The locations were the mark was sent up when looked at in the context of the UK form an almost complete Dark Mark." Harry paused to let everyone take in the information. He was not the least bit surprised by the look of horror on many of the faces of the Order members. "We believe the random activity where no mark is sent up is to hide this. We visited several of the sites and if you look carefully enough you will find residual Dark Magic in and around the site. What's more after tracking several of the locations over a period of months we've found that the magic is slowly growing, spreading towards the other sites. What we don't know is what will happen when they all connect."

* * *

-

* * *

Author's Notes: Hey all, sorry it took me so long to get this out my muse for this story seems to have taken a hike. I love the way the story starts but haven't been able to get this chapter out to save my life. I actually rewrote the first half a couple times. I'm still not as happy with it as I'd like to be but oh well I wanted to get it out, hopefully I'll be able to deliver the next one a bit quicker but no guarantees. 

Thanks to all of you who review, I really appreciate it!


	4. Complications

**Chapter 4 – Complications**

It stark contrast to the way the Order had been reacting as they received new news and information from Harry and Adora, the room was now perfectly quiet. The mood was subdued and tense while they all contemplated what this could mean. As they began trying to decide on a course of action, a sharp intake of breath was heard and Snape clutched his left forearm painfully.

With a quick nod to the Headmaster, Snape rose from his seat at the table and left the kitchen.

'-I'll be right back.–' Harry thought to his wife as he rose to follow the spy.

The potions master was in the entrance hall about to leave when Harry caught up with him.

"Snape." Harry said getting the man's attention.

"I really don't have time for your inane ramblings right now Potter." Snape sneered back as he finished putting on his cloak.

"I know. I just needed to get the marble back from you before you left."

After a quick search of his robe pockets, Snape handed the marble back to Harry and watched as he quickly vanished the piece of glass before leaving Grimmauld Place with his black robes billowing out behind him in his wake.

Harry stared at the spot Snape had occupied deep in thought for a minute before removing a small device with a screen from within his robes and placing an earpiece connected to the item in one ear.

As he listened he became enraged at what he was hearing, finally storming back to the kitchen where everyone's attention became focused on him as the door slammed open. Ignoring their looks, he moved towards the table while looking once again at the device he carried. Finding what he needed, Harry stowed the device away within his robes.

"Albus, Adora, let's go." he said with authority.

"May I ask where we're going Harry?" Dumbledore asked as he stood and moved to join Harry and Adora.

"Voldemort's headquarters." he replied.

Harry would have smiled at the explosion of voices that filled the room if the situation wasn't so serious.

Dumbledore was shocked at Harry's announcement but noticed Adora was not. He assumed Harry had been communicating telepathically with her. "You know the location?"

"Yes." Harry replied simply.

"Wouldn't it be better for us all to go, perhaps with some Auror backup as well?"

"No. We're the only three powerful enough to breach the wards around the apparition point without a dark mark."

Nodding in acceptance, Albus drew his wand and the three stood back to back with Harry using his free hand to hold on to Dumbledore's arm to control his apparition.

"Professor," Harry said just before they disappeared, "we won't be using any stunners in this raid and if you see Snape, kill him."

* * *

After leaving Grimmauld Place, Severus Snape reappeared at the apparition point in Riddle Manor which was a room just next door to the throne room where he knew he would find Voldemort. After letting the Death Eaters verify his identity, Snape made his way out of the room and towards the next where his presence was expected. He was about to enter when he was spun around and kissed hard on the mouth. 

"Mmm, Bella my sweet." he said as the kiss ended.

The dark haired woman grinned evilly. "It's been to long Sev, I hope you don't have to rush off after our meeting."

"Not at all my love, not at all."

After sharing another kiss the pair entered the throne room where Bella quickly kneeled kissing the hems of Voldemort's robes before standing and moving to one side.

"My lord." Snape said kneeling on the floor in front of the Dark Lord and kissing the hems of his robes.

"Severus, what news do you bring me?" Voldemort asked silkily.

Snape stood to face the man sitting on his throne. "Master, I have much to tell you. Potter has returned."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed at the mentioned of his rival as Snape continued.

"The metamorphmagus is now his wife and through an accident while they were training their magic has become connected and grown. They suspect their power is about twice that of Dumbledore's now."

The Dark Lord's listened intently to all the news his most loyal and unbeknownst to anyone other than the three of them, second in command was telling him.

He went on to describe in detail the events that led to Harry and Adora's current level of power and what he knew of the Death Eater prison they had created. He also detailed how the Potters were going about capturing the Dark Lord's servants. Voldemort's anger flared briefly when he learned Harry was currently holding Draco Malfoy in one of his cells. He hadn't even known the arrogant brat was missing.

Reaching within his robes, Snape removed a small marble with a smirk. "Potter does not know I still have this. When he asked for it back, I gave him a conjured copy which he immediately vanished."

Accepting the marble his spy offered him, the Dark Lord examined it curiously for several minutes before finally placing it safely in his robes, confident he would be able to discern its destination and regain his loyal servants.

"I want you to kill the metamorphmagus Severus. Kill her and make sure she is barely recognizable when you're done as a message to Potter. She is powerful but should be an easy target for you as she will not be expecting an attack from a member of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix. You may even risk your position within the Order for this. We must remove what power we can from Potter and this will destroy his spirit as well."

Snape grinned evilly, "Gladly Master."

"Is that all Severus?" Voldemort asked seemingly unconcerned about the mentioned events.

"Almost Master, there is one final thing that while I am sure you will want to know, I do not understand. It seems that Potter has discovered a pattern to the placement of the Dark Marks sent in to the sky after most Death Eater attacks. He has found that they are forming a large Dark Mark over the UK and that the dark magic between these sites is growing. He does not however know what the meaning of it is."

Voldemort sat up straighter in his chair at the unexpected news and growled. "I did not expect him to find this out. It's still too soon."

"Master, may I ask what this is about?"

"No Severus, you may not. Your position makes that knowledge too dangerous for you to have."

Snape bowed accepting the answer without question. "Of course Master."

While deep in thought trying to decide what to do about the latest information, Voldemort felt the wards trigger. As he concentrated trying to figure out what was causing the alarm, a large explosion went off throwing debris in every direction.

* * *

Harry, Adora and Albus appeared in a room to find themselves surrounded by a group of surprised Death Eaters. Without pause the three sprang into action. 

Harry's outline blurred and shimmered as he disappeared from existence, reappearing on the other side of the room where a barrage of curses quickly eliminated several opponents. While Harry was moving around decimating the Death Eater's ranks from within, Adora conjured a granite wall to protect her and Albus from incoming curses and began launching reducter curses back at her enemy severely injuring or killing whoever they came in contact with. Others were injured by flying debris caused by missed curses impacting the walls and furniture. Albus took advantage of the cover Adora created and began transfiguring and animating an army of automatons that swiftly began eliminating the rest of the enemy forces. Within a minute of arriving every Death Eater in the room had been killed.

As the last Death Eater fell, Harry paused and concentrated on his scar through his Occlumency shields.

"This way." he said, indicating a wall on one side of the room.

Standing together the three pointed their wands at the wall and shouted "REDUCTO!" pouring as much power as they could into their curses. The wall exploded away from them and Harry and Adora jumped through the hole in the wall with Albus following close behind as he cast a spell to clear the dust and smoke from the air.

Seeing Voldemort on his throne with several injuries from the flying debris, Harry immediately went to challenge him casting a barrage of different curses as he went. Adora moved towards where Snape was lying against one wall bleeding heavily and finished him off with a well placed cutting curse.

Bellatrix was furious as she watched her cousin kill an already grievously injured Severus. Though badly injured herself, she ignored the pain and jumped up flinging the darkest of curses at Adora with a power that was compounded by her rage at having just seen her lover killed in front of her.

As the curses were about to hit Adora, a shield flared to life in front of her and several creatures made from the rubble intercepted the worst of them. Turning towards the new treat, Bellatrix found an extremely angry Dumbledore heading towards her with an aura of power shimmering around him. Knowing she had no chance against the pair of them, Bellatrix activated her emergency portkey and disappeared.

Voldemort noticed the air clearing much quicker than it should have after the blast and looked up just in time to see several curses flying towards him. Quickly raising a shield he dove behind his throne and began returning fire. While he traded curses with Harry he saw Adora finish off Severus and turn with Dumbledore towards Bellatrix who disappeared a moment later.

Pointing his wand past Harry, Voldemort cried "Accio!"

'-Kneel, now!-' Harry heard Adora yell in his mind.

Having trained and worked so closely together over the past couple of years, Harry knew not to disregard her warnings and did as she asked with out even thinking about it.

A moment after going down on one knee, a large chunk of stone that had been summoned by Voldemort flew over Harry's head. Acting quickly Harry raised his hands and banished the stone towards his enemy. As the stone was already flying towards Voldemort from the summoning charm, Harry's banishing charm sped up the object greatly.

Voldemort ducked behind the throne just as the stone impacted. Once again he gained several injuries from flying debris as most of his remaining cover was destroyed. Knowing he could not stand against the three of them alone, he turned back towards Harry.

"Now is not the time Potter, but soon…" he said before activating his portkey and disappearing.

"Damnit." Harry growled as Adora approached him. "I should have warded the room before going after him."

"It's ok Harry, we'll get him." she said placing a calming hand on his shoulder.

Harry sighed and nodded. As they looked around the room they saw Albus looking sadly at Severus body.

Harry was moving towards him when he heard his wife's voice in his head. '-Harry, something's not right with the magic here.-'

Harry stopped in his tracks, raising his hands in front of him palms out and slowly turned in a circle.

"Shit. Get out of here now!" he yelled before running back through the hole they had blasted in the wall to the apparition point.

"What is it?" Albus asked as he joined the pair.

"The magic here's folding in on itself. Get outside the wards, quick!"

The three disappeared, reappearing an instant later just beyond the Riddle property outside of the wards. As they looked back towards the mansion they heard a loud groan and saw it shudder before it began collapsing in on itself. It crumbled as it shrunk, getting smaller and smaller.

"Crap, shields!" Adora suddenly yelled.

Just as the three managed to raise a powerful shield in front of them the house exploded, pieces as large as a small car being thrown where they were standing. Several minutes later the smoke cleared enough for the group to see that the place where the Riddle house had once stood was now just an empty crater.

"Are you both ok?" Albus asked worriedly.

"Fine." Harry responded. "Just upset I blew my chance."

"Don't be so hard on yourself Harry, his time will come, of that I have no doubt." the old man said with a smile and a twinkle that immediately put Harry at ease.

"The two of you had better leave. The Aurors will be here soon to see what that magical explosion was all about."

Harry and Adora nodded and disappeared.

* * *

Pandemonium reigned as Harry and Adora entered the kitchen at Grimmauld Place. Word of the explosion in Little Hangleton had made its way to Order headquarters and they were all wondering what had happened and if everyone was ok. 

"Harry! Adora!" Hermione chimed as she saw the pair enter the kitchen.

Almost immediately the questions began raining down upon them. Raising his arms Harry finally got everyone to settle down but was asked a question by McGonagall before he could start explaining.

"Where's Albus? Is he ok?" she said in a worried voice.

"He's fine. He stayed behind to deal with the Ministry. For obvious reasons Adora and I had to leave before the Aurors showed up."

He smiled at the look of relief that flooded his old transfiguration professor's face. Harry and Adora proceeded to tell everyone what had occurred at Riddle Manor and were just finishing up when Albus entered the kitchen.

Molly handed him a cup of tea as he sat down and after taking a long sip he began by addressing Harry. "I assume everyone here has been brought up to date concerning the events in Little Hangleton?"

Harry nodded and the Headmaster continued. "I explained everything that happened to the Aurors as it happened though I left out that Harry and Adora were there and refused to divulge how I came about Voldemort's location. Unfortunately Minister Fudge was there and believes you Harry, and you Adora were somehow involved. I believe I am now being painted as being in cahoots with you and possibly by association, Voldemort."

"What!" was the most common question that was raised as everyone in the room began questioning the Minister's sanity in various creative ways.

When the Order finally calmed down enough for the meeting to continue it was Adora who spoke. "How is that possible? I can see how he might think Harry and I were your source for finding Voldemort, but how on earth would he take that to mean you're in cahoots with the evil prick?"

"It makes no difference, as Harry well knows Cornelius always sees things the way he wishes too and he has long seen me as a threat to his power base."

"What does this mean for you Albus?" Minerva asked.

Albus took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alas I do not yet know. At the present I am at the center of an inquiry regarding today's explosion. There is little doubt in my mind that I will be called in at some time and Cornelius will attempt to put his spin on the events to discredit me in some way. Do not concern yourselves with that, should the need arise I have made arrangements to ensure control of Hogwarts passes to you Minerva and will join Harry and Adora in there efforts outside of Ministry control."

"Hopefully it won't come to that." Albus finally added deciding the conversation needed to be brought back to the task at hand. "Harry, can you please explain what brought on this attack and how you discovered the location of Voldemort's headquarters? Also why did Severus need to be killed?"

Harry sighed and removed the small device he had used before the attack from a pocked within his robes laying it on the table in front of him. "This is how I knew everything. It's a muggle device Adora and I picked up a while back. I wondered about Snape when he failed to return the portkey to me so I followed him to the entry hall and asked him to return it. When he did he gave me a conjured marble that looked like the portkey rather than the actual one."

A look of alarm appeared on Dumbledore's face. "Do you mean to say that Voldemort could have a portkey to your prison?"

Harry and Adora shared a quick grin. "Acctually no, he thought I vanished the fake portkey when he gave it to me but I actually modified it a bit and switched it with the real one in his pocket."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know what modifications you made?" he asked with a large grin and brightly twinkling eyes.

Harry's own eyes began twinkling as well. "Let's just say I hope he figures out the destination coordinates and uses it himself." he said chuckling softly along with Adora.

"Anyway," he finally continued indicating the device on the table, "this is a receiver for a transmitter I place on Snape that relayed his conversation with Voldemort back here to me. It also ties in to the muggle GPS system and was able to give me his location."

Seeing looks of confusion on several of the Order member's faces he elaborated. "GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It uses satellites that are in orbit around the earth to pinpoint locations. It took us a while to figure out how to make the thing work in a magical environment but it worked perfectly. Since its all muggle none of their nullification fields, wards or spells could detect it."

Dumbledore was beaming. "Absolutely brilliant you two!"

Harry and Adora smiled at the praise. "As far as Snape goes, he was never your spy, he was Voldemort's."

Several gasps could be heard around the table and Albus had a sad look on his face.

"Voldemort could just as well been at tonight's meeting, Snape told him everything.

Albus closed his eyes for several seconds, sad to realize Severus had never really been his friend. "Why couldn't we have just imprisoned him, why kill him?"

Anger flared in Harry's eyes as well as Adora's as he responded. "Two reasons other than what I've already told you. One, he happily agreed to kill my wife and make a strong statement to me with her body and two, Bellatrix was his lover."

Angry mutterings were heard all around the table and Remus was fuming as thoughts of Sirius flashed though his mind.

A few minutes later Harry and Adora stood. After putting his receiver away Harry handed Dumbledore a small medallion. "We're heading out now, if you need us tap that three times and tell it what's going on, then tap in again, we'll get the message."

After sharing a round of goodbye's with their friends, Harry and Adora left Grimmauld Place.

* * *

A bloody and battered Voldemort appeared in a small chateau situated on a cliff above the North Sea furious over the events of the past hour. He found Bellatrix Lestrange limping around in a condition and rage that matched his own. 

They spent the next couple of hours healing each other before Voldemort took hold of her left arm and pushed up her sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark. Pressing the tip of his wand to the tattoo, he summoned all of the remaining Death Eaters too him. While awaiting their arrival, he removed the marble Severus had given him and worked out the location of the prison. Conjuring a long piece of rope, he created a portkey to take them to that location. Several minutes later the remaining Death Eaters, all ninety two, were in attendance.

"Bella," he said handing her the rope, "take sixty with you to storm Potter's prison. I will take the rest and surround the area, kill anyone you meet."

Bella nodded with her evil grin firmly in place. It was time for some payback.

Voldemort gave his group the coordinates for various places around the prisons location and as soon as they all knew where they were going, apperated away. A moment later he was followed by Bellatrix and her group.

He reappeared to find himself in the middle of the ocean. As his body materialized with nothing to stand on, he fell into the frigid water. A moment later he saw Bellatrix appear with her group and watched as they too fell into the ocean. Before he could do anything he felt a tingle of magic in the area and Bellatrix and her Death Eaters were pulled to their deaths beneath the water.

"Potter." he growled in fury and frustration as he realized he'd been tricked, "you will pay for this."

Returning to his chateau he screamed out in frustration. Several random and unfortunate Death Eaters bore the brunt of his rage though means of a very painful unforgivable curse. When the worst of his temper had passed, he dismissed what was left of his followers and secluded himself in a bedroom where he began making portkeys.

* * *

Harry and Adora returned to their quarters at the Death Eater prison they had created and were relaxing for a bit, trying to figure out their next move was going to be when an alarm sounded in the command center. Entering the room they looked at the map and started laughing hysterically. 

"I can't believe he actually fell for it." Adora chuckled.

"No kidding, what an idiot. I guess we just answered one of the pivotal questions of wizarding kind."

"Which is?" Adora asked, grinning in anticipation of the answer.

"Can the evil and all powerful Dark Lord dog paddle?"

The pair broke down in another fit of laughter before Harry continued. "How many did we get?"

Adora drew a circle around the area of ocean where they knew Voldemort was currently swimming and tapped it with her wand. The map blurred for a second before zooming in on the area she had circled. Ninety four separate Dark Marks could be seen on the map. Sixty of them were located in a tight group in the middle and had red X's on them while the rest were scattered around the perimeter in small groups. One of the ones on the perimeter was red instead of black. With another tap of her wand on the corner of the map some statistics appeared.

"Wow, looks like he brought the whole crew, we got sixty but Voldy wasn't one of them." she said pointing to the red mark on the map. "Assuming he used everyone, he's now only got thirty two left."

After hearing the information, Harry was staring at the map watching the remaining Death Eaters disappear as they apperated away when Adora placed a hand on his shoulder. When he looked up at her she was smiling though there seemed to be a distant sadness associated with her happiness.

"We got Bella."

Pulling her into a hug he smiled sadly understanding her look. Sirius had been avenged.


	5. Protectors

**Chapter 5 – Protectors**

It had been several days since Harry, Adora and Albus had taken the war to Voldemort, and Albus found himself sitting behind his large desk in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts pondering everything that had occurred. He was greatly heartened by the return of his grandson, well he thought, he's not actually my grandson but a smile graced his features as he thought of the young man he loved as one of his own.

As he continued to ponder recent events the smile he wore faded at the thought of Severus. The twinkle that normally shined so brightly in the old mans brilliant blue eyes faded almost completely as he thought of the betrayal of his one time best friend.

Sensing his mood Fawkes flew from his perch to land on the desk in front of Albus. The phoenix began to sing softly, his melody quickly washing away the melancholy from the headmaster.

Smiling at his friend and companion, Albus began to stroke the large birds beautiful red plumage. "Thank you my friend. What ever are we going to do next?"

Letting out a final chirp, Fawkes stepped back and took off, flying to a position in front of a small painting cleverly hidden among the portraits of the previous headmasters that adorned the walls of the office.

Albus felt a warm feeling of approval from all around him and grinned widely as he realized what Fawkes had in mind as the phoenix hovered in front of a small picture of Hogwarts.

A burst of song escaped the phoenix throat, loud and vibrant, echoing through the office as Fawkes burst into flame. The song continued for a long minute before the flame disappeared and Fawkes flew back down to the desk in front of Albus with a large red jewel clutched in his talons.

Accepting the sphere of ruby from his friend Albus once again began stroking the bird lovingly. "Brilliant Fawkes, absolutely brilliant!"

After a minute Fawkes returned to his perch and watched as Albus removed a small phoenix medallion from within his robes and tapped it three times before speaking a message to it.

* * *

Harry groaned in pleasure at the feelings of relaxation and contentment Adora was bringing to him. Her hands worked quickly and firmly passing back and forth across his back as she continued her ministrations. 

"Like that do you?" she asked with a small grin on her face.

"Mmmm." was the best Harry could do in response.

Another groan escaped Harry's lips, only this was a groan of frustration as Dobby popped into existence beside the bed where Adora was giving Harry a massage.

"I is sorry Master and Mistress but yous is having a message." the small elf said as he held out a small glass statue of a phoenix that was glowing softly.

"It's alright," Adora said taking the statue, "Thanks Dobby."

After bowing deeply, Dobby disappeared from the room with another pop.

"He's got great timing, doesn't he." Harry growled as he sat up causing Adora to let out a snort. "Fine, go ahead and laugh."

Shaking his head, Harry picked his wand up from the nightstand next to their bed and tapped the statue with its tip. The soft glow emanating from the depths of the glass figurine flared briefly before the voice of the Headmaster echoed from within.

"Harry and Adora, I hope this message finds you both well. Fawkes has just come up with a most wonderful idea and I would like to meet with you both in my office at your convenience. I trust you will have no problem getting into the castle undetected. Until then take care of yourselves and each other."

"Well, that was interesting." Adora said as the glow faded from the statue. "I wonder what he's come up with now?"

Harry just shrugged his shoulders. "I guess there's only one way to find out."

Nodding to her husband Adora stood and went to get dressed for a trip to Hogwarts.

* * *

Voldemort groaned as he regained consciousness. Rolling over from his position where he lay on the floor he used the coffee table to pull himself up into a sitting position. 

Closing his eyes, he waited for the room to stop spinning. After a few minutes he removed the stoppers from several potions he had set out for himself and quickly downed them. After a few minutes he could feel some of his strength returning. Still suffering from magical exhaustion, he made his way across the room where he fell heavily onto the large bed that was there.

As he rolled onto his back, he spied a table not far away that contained a wide assortment of objects he had been turning into portkeys. As he faded back into unconsciousness, and evil grin appeared on his face at the thought of what was to come.

* * *

"Bloody Peeves and his ruddy messes…" grumbled Argus Filch as he made his way through the many halls of Hogwarts. He was crossing the entrance hall rambling on about pesky poltergeists when the front doors opened to admit two short individuals who could have easily been mistaken for Filius Flitwick. 

"Who might you be?" he asked as he turned to face the pair.

"Ahh, Argus! How good to see you!" one of the dwarves squeaked excitedly.

Argus eyes narrowed as he was greeted by one of the visitors. He found it curious that the individual seemed to know who he was. His sharp eyes also noticed that the dwarf's companion seemed to be stifling their laughter.

"Do I know ya?" he growled out.

"That is entirely possible, then again possibly not, hard to say really." the dwarf said happily.

Argus was beginning to get flustered and his temper was flaring. "Enough, who are ya and what business do you have at the castle?" he ground out in annoyance.

"Now, now, Mr. Filch, no need to get angry. You know, all of this rage can't be good for your heart."

A bright red and glaring Filch was about to respond when a water balloon hit him squarely in the head, dowsing him in ice cold water.

"Peeves!" an already irate caretaker yelled at the poltergeist who was cackling gleefully as he took aim at the dwarves and let fly his ammunition.

Continuing to smile the whole while, the dwarf surreptitiously waved his hand and redirected the balloons to land on the caretaker.

"Blast you Peeves! I'll have you out of here for this!" Forgetting all about the castles guests a very angry and wet Filch ran off towards the Headmaster's office.

Laughing heartily, the pair followed along at a more sedate pace. As they approached the gargoyle that guarded the stairs to Dumbledore's office, they were surprised to see it leap aside seemingly of its own accord. Sharing a curious glance the pair shrugged their shoulders and climbed aboard the moving staircase. Reaching the top they could hear Filch ranting about Peeves.

"I say he's a menace and needs to be expelled from the castle!"

"Now Argus, I'm sure it's not that bad however as much as I would like to continue this fascinating conversation, I believe my guests have arrived."

Hearing the Headmaster recognize their presence, the pair pushed the door open and entered the office. Filch walked by giving them both a glare as he passed while still muttering about Peeves as he left the office. As they approached the desk Dumbledore waved his hand closing the door to his office.

"Harry, Adora, it's wonderful to see you both, I didn't expect you to arrive this soon." Albus said grinning widely.

Harry gripped Adora's arm. "I'm scared, why's he twinkling so much?"

Adora let out a snort and Albus smile seemed to get even bigger as he let out a chuckle of his own. "Not to worry Harry, please, have a seat. Lemon drop?"

"No thanks." Harry said as he waved his hand over Adora and himself dispelling the illusions they were wearing before taking a seat in front of the desk next to his wife.

"I must say I approve of your disguises. It's too bad Filius is not in the castle at present, I'm sure he would love to see them for himself."

Adora smiled. "Well, we'd be happy to show him anytime. So, what was it you wanted to see us about?"

Still twinkling brightly, Albus opened one of the drawers of his desk and removed a large red jewel. As he placed it on the desk in front of him he was joined by Fawkes.

"Have either of you ever wondered how it is I know most everything that occurs within Hogwarts grounds?"

Harry and Adora both looked curiously at Albus. "I guess, in passing. I never really thought about it too much."

Dumbledore nodded. "The answer actually dates back to the construction of Hogwarts herself. The founders imbued the castle with large amounts of magic as it was built. In fact, the castle and the grounds it sits on is the most magically powerful place on earth. The original intent was to increase the amount of magic in the area to make it easier for students to access therefore making it easier to learn to perform and control."

"During the construction of the castle's foundation, the founders created a structure to help power the wards which encompass the school and its grounds. The wards are so large and powerful that it would be virtually impossible and quite possibly deadly for a single wizard or witch to power them so this construct was created for that purpose. It's actually quite interesting how it works. The large crystalline structure absorbs ambient magic from the area in and around Hogwarts. It stores a large portion of that magic and uses it to power the wards and reinforce the structure of the castle itself."

"It's a fascinating and brilliant design because the more magic that's used in the area, the stronger the wards and castle become, meaning that the students learning and practicing magic actually make the wards stronger."

Harry and Adora were fascinated to hear about the history and inner workings of Hogwarts but were wondering why they were being told this. Picking up on this, the Headmaster continued.

"Of course even though the wards do not require a wizard to power them, they still needed to be controlled. It was decided during the construction that this would fall to the Headmaster of the school and those who were to be its Protectors."

"Protectors?" Harry asked. "I've never heard of that."

Dumbledore smiled. "I would not expect you to have. There hasn't actually been a protector for several centuries. A protector is one who has the same access and control over Hogwarts, her grounds and the wards as the Headmaster while not actually holding that position. You see, times were much more dangerous for Wizards and Witches in the past than they are now and it was often necessary to have several capable individuals to protect the castle and its students. I'm sure you could understand how disastrous it could be if the Headmaster were to be incapacitated during a battle and control of the wards was lost."

"However, returning to the construction of the castle, once the construct to power the wards was created and charged with magic, it became time to tie control of the wards to the Headmaster. The ritual to do this required all four of the founders as it was their magic that created the construct and the castle. During the ritual a phoenix appeared."

Fawkes trilled a beautiful piece of song at this point in the story. Smiling, the Headmaster reached over and stroked his plumage lovingly. "Yes, in fact it was this very phoenix."

Harry and Adora looked astounded as they continued to listen to the story in fascination.

"With the ritual already underway the founders were unable to stop it. Fawkes changed to flame and passed through each of the founders collecting the various traits each of them prized before merging with the construct where he added those traits as well as some of his own essence to it. The founders were surprised when they didn't have control over the school or its wards at the end of the ritual. Over the next few weeks they spent most of their time working on the problem. Wondering what changes Fawkes had made and why. Eventually they began experiencing feelings and receiving visions that were not their own. What they finally came to realize was that it was Hogwarts communicating with them."

"What!" Harry exclaimed. "Are you saying Hogwarts is alive?"

Albus chuckled. "In a manner of speaking. She is sentient, but obviously cannot move about as you or I thus the need for a Headmaster or Protectors to help guard her and carry out her will."

"Amazing." Adora said. "So that's how you know what goes on? Hogwarts tells you?"

A large smile lit up his face and his eyes twinkled brightly. "Yes and no. You see, over the years the large amount of magic used here and the numerous people passing through the hallowed halls of this wondrous institution has increased Hogwarts awareness and ability to communicate and feel. She dearly loves the students who come here. You can feel her sadness when they leave for the summer and her growing excitement as the day of their return nears. It's a most wonderful experience."

The pair wore a wondrous look at what they were hearing. "Sir, you keep saying 'she'. Is Hogwarts female?" Adora asked curiously.

Albus chuckled. "Yes, I believe she is. You see, Hogwarts thinks of herself as a mother figure to those who frequent her halls and grounds."

"This is amazing Albus, but I find myself wondering why your telling us all this." Harry said.

"I'm telling you this because Hogwarts would like to make you and Adora her Protectors."

Silence filled the room and the Headmaster couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the stunned expressions Harry and Adora wore on their faces at his announcement.

"You're kidding." Harry finally managed to stutter out after several minutes.

Albus smiled widely. "I assure you I am not. It is a great honor to be chosen and should you accept you would be bonded to Hogwarts just as I am."

"You mean we would be bonded to her like a familiar? Like you are with Fawkes?" Adora asked.

A perpetual grin seemed to be etched upon the Headmasters face. "Actually I'm not bonded to Fawkes."

"But I thought, I mean, everyone thinks," a confused Harry said trying to phrase his thoughts. There seemed to be no end to the surprises the Headmaster was dropping on him today.

"I know that is what is generally believed and in fact I have perpetuated that rumor over the years but in truth Fawkes is not bonded to me, but to Hogwarts."

Realization hit Adora at his announcement. "That makes sense, you can communicate with Fawkes through your connection to Hogwarts."

"Very good Adora, ten points to Ravenclaw!" Albus said cheerfully.

"But I've never read or heard anything about Headmaster Dippet having a phoenix."

"True. Fawkes chooses who he wants to appear bonded too. The rest of the time he remains invisible or visits the other corners of the globe, but he will always respond to Hogwarts call."

Albus watched the pair closely as they contemplated all of the new information they had just been given for several minutes before asking his question, he could feel the anticipation of the castle around him as he did.

"Will you be Protectors of Hogwarts?"

Harry and Adora quickly shared their thoughts with each other and a smile before turning back to the Headmaster. "We would be honored."

Smiling knowingly Albus enjoyed feeling the happiness emenating from the castle. As he stepped back, Fawkes grasped the red jewel from the Headmaster's desk and took off coming to a stop hovering in between Harry and Adora. As he began singing, his song filled their hearts with love, hope and happiness. Slowly the song began to shift tunes and without realizing what they were doing, Harry and Adora reached out and touched the stone Fawkes held.

At first nothing happened and the pair was simply surprised to realize they were touching the stone but as they continued to touch it they realized they could not let go. Slowly the jewel began to glow, brighter and brighter. Power started thrumming within its depths quickly increasing and filling the room with energy unbound.

As the room reached a point where the power was almost too much to bare, Fawkes burst into flame. Releasing the stone from his talons he flew in a great circle around the room before passing through Harry first and then Adora. He then returned to the stone removing it from the pairs hands. With a bright flash, Fawkes and the stone disappeared and all the energy in the room was sucked into Harry and Adora's bodies.

A minute later Fawkes reappeared in his normal form and began singing his healing song to the pair. His singing had an immediate effect and the heavily breathing pair seemed to calm down though they could feel the additional power they had gained from joining with the ancient structure coursing through their veins.

As everything returned to normal, Harry sat up and looked around the room. He could feel his wife through the link they shared and could tell she was recovering from the bonding as well as he was. As he concentrated on the surrounding area he also noticed another set of emotions. They portrayed a deep sense of happiness and love and Harry found himself looking at Albus with a question in his eyes.

"Yes Harry, it's Hogwarts that you feel. She is extremely happy to be bonded with you."

* * *

For the next several hours, Albus taught Harry and Adora how to communicate with Hogwarts. Conversations with the castle were not exactly what they had expected though communication was possible. The conversations took place on a subconscious level without actual words but they could converse with her. It helped them greatly that they were masters of Occlumency. 

The most obvious aspect of the bonding was that they could feel Hogwarts emotions. They also quickly learned that they could sense Fawkes and Dumbledore's emotions as well since they too were bonded with the castle, though they were much weaker and harder to sense.

Albus explained to them about the portraits, ghosts and elves that now all knew they were Protectors and held the same status as the Headmaster. The group made an incredibly powerful spy network. He also taught them about the wards and how they didn't actually control them so much as ask Hogwarts to make the changes they needed and she would do it for them.

"Hogwarts helps us as much as we help her then, right?" Harry asked receiving a nod and a smile from Albus. "That's what happened when we came here today, Hogwarts opened the gargoyle up for us."

"Exactly Harry. She will do all she can to help you in your tasks just as she knows you will do all you can to protect her and those under her care."

Harry was about to ask another question when the group felt a flash of anger and outrage from the castle. Having just learned to communicate with the castle and not yet being very proficient at it Harry and Adora looked to Albus for an answer.

After a moment of concentration Albus began shaking his head. "It appears Cornilius has arrived with a rather large group of Aurors. I have of course expressed my fears that this day may come. I suggest you both disappear."

Moving to one side of the room Harry and Adora prepared to disappear when the wall they were standing next too seemed to push backwards out of the way. They felt a tickle in their subconscious and seemed to understand that Hogwarts wanted them to enter the niche she had created. Stepping into the small area a wall solidified in front of them reforming the original wall before it became transparent so that they could see and hear what was occurring in the office.

Albus smiled as the wall reappeared knowing Harry and Adora would be safe where they were and that they could see and hear what was about to occur. Taking a moment to compose himself, Albus returned to his seat behind his desk and waited for the Minster to arrive. A moment later he did, barging in as if he owned the place and waving a piece of parchment around as he did so.

"Dumbledore," he began pompously as he approached the Headmaster's desk, "this is an order relieving you of your duties both at Hogwarts and at the Ministry. It also calls for you to be placed into custody until a hearing can be held."

He sighed sadly feeling the anger emanating from Hogwarts. Looking around he noticed that the Minister had brought a much larger force than he had the previous time he had tried to arrest him, there had to be at least a dozen Aurors positioned around his office. Looking at their faces Albus could see that they had been carefully selected. They were all loyal to fudge and all had their wands drawn.

"And what exactly am I being accused of?"

"At the moment the only charges are aiding and abetting one Harry Potter and Nymphadora Tonks. There are also suspicions of collusion with the Dark Lord and use of dark arts but that is what the hearing will determine."

Harry and Adora couldn't believe what they were hearing. Was the Minister really so entrenched in his hatred for Dumbledore and Potter that he would go to these lengths to remove the Headmaster? They could feel Hogwarts anger pulsing all around them and wanted nothing more than to join Albus and stand by his side but did nothing at Hogwarts request.

"I see." Albus began as he stood. "I will of course step down from the offices I have faithfully held until now."

The Aurors tensed as Albus stood and raised there wands though the Headmaster continued as if he had taken no notice. "I will not however be going with you too the Ministry. There are far too many better things I can be doing with my time."

Before anyone could blink the room went dark. Harry and Adora noticed they could still clearly see everything that was going on in the office and suspected Albus could as well. They continued watching nervously, itching to go to the Headmasters aid but stayed still at Hogwarts continued urging.

The instant the lights went out Fudge screamed and dropped to the floor. All of the Aurors fired spells into the dark where they had been aiming but Dumbledore was no longer there. Drawing his wand in an instant, Dumbledore quickly crossed the room firing stunners as he went. His face was stern and his eyes glittered with power as the spells from the Aurors converged where he had been standing. By the time he had reached the opposite side of the room over half of the Aurors and Fudge had been stunned.

Several of the remaining wizards tried to cast the lumos spell to no avail before they passed into unconsciousness.

Less than ten seconds had passed before the lights came back on and Hogwarts lowered the wall allowing Harry and Adora to re-enter the office. The room had taken a lot of damage from the spells the Minister's men had been casting about in the dark. Walls, cabinets and book cases were damaged along with many of the valuable items they held. Dumbledore's desk and chair had been reduced to little more than a pile of broken wood.

As they took in the scene their gazes came to rest on the sole remaining conscious occupant of the room, the Headmaster. Harry had only seen him look this angry and powerful a few times and as powerful as he was, was glad the old mans anger was not directed at him.

"It would appear that I have been freed from my responsibilities and now have an abundance of free time on my hands. If you would have me, I would gladly join you."

Harry and Adora grinned at the now twinkling eyes of the Headmaster. Harry quickly conjured a piece of parchment and a quill. After writing the fidilius phrase revealing the location of their home/prison on it he handed it to Dumbledore.

"We'd be happy to have you."

After reading the small slip of parchment, Albus incinerated it and vanished the ashes. Pulling another parchment from within his robes, Harry stared at it for several seconds growing angry as he did. Carefully folding and replacing the parchment, Harry stepped up to some of the Aurors and began pushing up their sleeves revealing the dark mark.

Adora removed a bag of marbles from within her robes and approached the three Aurors who were wearing the dark mark, dropping one of the portkeys into each of their hands causing them to disappear.

While Albus and Adora levitated all of the stunned bodies down the staircase and into the hall, Harry concentrated on the Hogwarts wards.

With their task complete, Albus waited patiently as he watched Harry modify the existing wards. It was about fifteen minutes later when Harry finally came out of his trance.

"I watched you work on the wards Harry and must say the changes you made are most intriguing. While the signature looks familiar, I am curious as to what they are for."

Harry nodded. "They're something we designed for our prison. They protect against the dark magic that's growing around the UK. While we don't know what it's supposed to do, we know it can't be anything good and we can protect against it. We've also added the ward to Grimmauld Place."

Albus nodded in approval. After a final look around, they each took a pinch of floo powder and disappeared into the fireplace. As Harry was about to go through he looked back to the empty office.

"Don't worry, we'll be here when you need us." he said softly. As he disappeared he smiled at the happiness and warmth the castle projected at him.

* * *

It was a week after the incident at Hogwarts and Harry, Adora and Albus were sitting in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place where Albus had decided to stay so that he would be available to the Order members when Minerva McGonagall entered the room. 

"Good morning Minerva." Albus said smiling at his long time friend.

"Good morning to you Albus, Harry, Adora." she replied. "I thought you should know the Ministry has finally ceded the Headmastership to me."

Albus smiled knowingly and waited for her to continue.

"It seems their representatives have been having all kinds of problems with the castle, disappearing for days at a time, being unable to open doors and the like. It also seems they have been unable to overturn a writ from the Board of Governors."

Blue eyes seemed to twinkle even brighter.

"Somehow they seem to have found themselves magically bound to transfer the position to the Deputy Headmistress. You wouldn't know anything about all of that, would you Albus?"

A mischievous grin appeared on his face and his eyes continued to twinkle as he shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea what you're talking about Minerva." he said before returning to his breakfast, completely ignoring the raised eyebrows on her face and the snickering coming from Harry and Adora.

Shaking her head in frustration, Minerva let out a sigh and turned to leave the room. Her stern expression would have chastised the group but for the continual twitching at the corners of her mouth as a smile threatened to break free.

* * *

Voldemort woke feeling refreshed with his magical reserves fully recharged. Getting up from the bed where he had spent the last week recovering he spied the table full of portkeys and grinned evilly. 

Leaving the room he found the nearest Death Eater and pressed the tip of his wand to the dark mark on his left forearm. The Deatheater screamed in pain as the call went out before collapsing on the floor as the Dark Lord removed his wand.

A few minutes later Voldemort's remaining Death Eaters began appearing. Within ten minutes all that was left of his minions were in attendance.

Voldemort grinned evilly as he surveyed his forces. A few more had been captured and he now only had twenty three left, but it would be enough.

His eyes glowed red, malice dripping from his voice as he spoke to the assembled Death Eaters. "It is time to take what is mine."


End file.
